Holiday Gratitude

Peyton, Mason and me

I just got back from an amazing few days on the east coast with my brother and his family. Taking some down time every Christmas to spend quality time with my fast growing niece and nephew has become a great Christmas tradition for me. In addition to the usual ice skate, family dinners, and basketball games I always enjoy showing the kids some tech and learning from them about what tech they are into as well.

Alexa and Nintendo Switch

This year I set up a smart plug for their Alexa which my 9 year old nephew Mason promptly named Bob. We all had fun switching on the living room light by saying “Alexa, turn on Bob.” We also added some routines for Alexa to do following the request to turn on the light. The available routines are pretty basic right now, but I’m excited to see where this technology heads in the future.

Mason also showed me his Nintendo Switch which we used to play 2-player Super Mario Odyssey. I am blown away by the innovations included in the Switch like the ability to tilt the remote to look up and down and the portability of the game console itself. The Mario game is also innovative — playing the game two player means that one player is Mario and one is his hat named Cappy. I was skeptical, but controlling Mario’s hat is more fun than it sounds. In one short hour with the console, I can see why Nintendo has continued to dominate the video game space.

Thank You for all the Support…

As we head boldly into 2018, I want to express my deep gratitude to all of my colleagues and friends who have supported me in my transition to a full time web developer and tech consultant this month. I am truly humbled and blown away by the support I feel from the Commercial Production community and also those of you outside of the production community who have already hired me to build you a website or devise a plan for a smart office. You know who you are and I thank you. I hope everyone has a Happy and safe New Year’s Eve and I look forward to working with and seeing you all in 2018!